About: In Anti-Heroes Book V: Magic Man, the Geek Squad learn some shocking and hard truths, Jinx and Serena grow closer, Nikki finds romance, and the Supervillains face their greatest battle of all with Serena’s uncle!

Excerpt: Serena counted thirty or forty winged gargoyle specks on the horizon before finally giving up and swearing under her breath. They were a huge, nasty looking lot, and something told her she and her friends were in for a bad time of it this sunny afternoon.

“Holy shit,” Jinx said, coming abreast of her and pushing back the hood of his hoodie. “Are those what I think they are?”

“No, they’re a flock of seagulls. What do you think, genius?” Isaac said, slapping Jinx on the shoulder and nearly crumbling the smaller boy to the ground.

Jinx grumbled in response, rubbing his smarting shoulder.

“Um…” Nikki had finally joined them, and she was pointing off to the far end of the fairgrounds where the screeching gargoyles were skimming lower and reaching for a group of kids from their school who were standing by the funnel cake vendor. The moment the kids spotted the threat, they dropped their treats and stampeded away in a panic. One of the gargoyles tilted his wings and snatched at a longhaired girl who had lagged behind her group. She immediately started screaming and dropped to the ground, cold, grey, and as motionless as a statue.

“Did I just see what I think I saw?” Isaac said, his eyes wide.

“Damn, I didn’t know they could do that,” Jinx admitted. He yanked on the cords of his hoodie like he wanted to disappear inside it Kenny McCormick-style. “Did you guys know they could do that?”

Serena thought back to her date with Harrison, when the two of them had first encountered the gargoyles. She remembered how they’d touched people and turned them to stone right before her eyes. She’d used her Grey Magic to battle them and Harrison had used his powers to help her fight them off. But now wasn’t the time to mention that to her friends. Now was the time for quick action. “I think the question is, what are we going to do about it?”

“Serena’s right,” Nikki said. “The Supers aren’t here to help anyone. We’re all these kids have got.” She dropped the red pleather jacket she wore. Under it she wore her favorite black mini, thigh-high stockings and knee-high combat boots. With a determined glance their way, she started to transform. Seconds later her eyes had reddened and her skin had turned a glossy ebony color, though her hair remained the same white-blonde cornsilk, a flaming pale contrast to the rest of her. Her wings shushed forth like two black sails, and the new creature, a combination of Nikki and Nix, said in a lilting, snake-like voice, “Let’s show those creeps what we can really do!”

With that, she rocketed off toward the opposite end of the fairgrounds.

Serena turned to Jinx with a brave smile. “Let’s do it.”

Jinx gave her an arch look. “Go rescue a bunch of kids we don’t know who hate our guts and will probably blame us for this too?”

“That’s the plan.”

He grinned, suddenly looking very handsome and dashing, and shed his own hoodie so he could stretch his wings and shoot off into the air. The earthbound Isaac and Serena exchanged a nod and a smile and raced off toward the crowd of frightened kids.

While Jinx and Nikki met the hoard of gargoyles head-on in mid-air, Serena concentrated on racing to the nearest cluster of kids. Already a number of them had fallen to the ground and lay there like chiseled statues. She stared at them in horror, wondering if they were dead or just in some kind of suspended animation. She feared the former rather than the latter.

As soon as she was among the survivors, she stopped and raised her hands, calling on the Grey to form an impenetrable shield even as four gargoyles descended on her all at once, their claws reaching for her, toothy mouths gaping in hellish screams.

“No!” she cried and pushed out at them. The shield went from a dull, gunmetal grey to bright white. When the gargoyles hit it, they immediately bounced back, but Serena quickly learned that she could step outside her own shield. She looked in at the kids huddled together under the umbrella of her power and said, “Stay there! I promise you’ll be safe!”

She quickly raced to the next cluster of kids, who were under siege by no less than seven ugly gargoyles. The brutes were being held off by no more than Isaac’s quick thrusts as he punched at them to keep them away.

“Lemme give you a hand, big guy,” she said as she weaved another glistening dome of light over the small group of screaming kids.

Stick with our young adult series, because our next book, Book 6: Witch Wars, will wrap everything up, and rock your world (literally!). And keep checking the site for sneak peeks at the covers for Book 6 and the complete collection!

Thanks again for all the sales and support, folks. We’re thrilled you keep coming back for more adventures with the Geek Squad.

Here’s a sneak peek at the cover for Magic Man (Anti-Heroes Book 5). Feast your eyes and feel the anticipation! We’ll have Book 5 ready for you soon, folks, so keep checking here, or at the Anti-Heroes site and Karen’s site, to see what’s new with the Anti-Heroes.

Hey folks! We have some new Anti-Heroes for you, and I paid a visit to Brent Kelley’s place for a one question interview. Check it all out below!

Power Play (Anti-Heroes Book IV)
Louise Bohmer & K.H. Koehler

About: In Anti-Heroes Book IV: Power Play, the looming threat of the mysterious Devil Man and his horde of gargoyles draws near Sky City, and the kids learn they need to work together, both Supers and Geeks alike, if they have a hope in hell of defeating their enemy. But that’s only if they can keep from killing each other first!

Excerpt: “What the hell is this?” Jinx said, ripping a sign off the frosted door of their Superhero 101 class. On a sheet of yellow parchment were the words inked in calligraphy: GO TO THE REAR ENTRANCE.
Isaac tore it out of Jinx’s hands and looked it over while the rest of their crew crowded at their backs. The Supers lagged behind at an acceptable distance, everyone dragging their feet on this, their first day returning to Superhero Mentoring 101—with a new teacher none of them had ever met, no less.

Not a one among them was in the mood. The Geeks were still shaken from their encounter with the gargoyles in Witch World the day before, and the Supers were pissed that Mr. Snodgrass was forcing them to return to class alongside their nemeses.

Serena and Nikki jostled each other to see the note while Isaac smirked. “Hey, Blaine, it’s for you, man,” he said, and flung it at the smaller boy standing a few paces away.

Blaine plucked nervously at the long, retro-style 80’s rocker coat he wore. He claimed it was part of his Super costume, but Isaac was pretty sure Elton John had worn a similar coat on one of his tours. He picked up the note, read it, and muttered a few detention-getting words that Isaac didn’t even know the boy knew the definitions of. “Creep, I’m gonna sink your sorry ass,” he said, raising one booted foot menacingly as he prepared to open a sinkhole beneath them all.

Amber shoved to the front and snatched the paper away. “Give it here, shortcake.” She bunted Blaine away with a professionally executed hip throw, then looked it over. “The hell does this mean?”

“Zack knows,” Zoe informed them all as she dogged Amber, precariously carrying a tall stack of books in her arms. They were partly hers and partly Amber’s. When in a bad mood—which was to say all the time—Amber used Zoe as a beast of burden, seeing how the little half-alien girl could carry ten times her own weight.

Zack flinched noticeably at the sound of his name, his feelers drooping despondently. He thought a moment. “There’s a bus waiting in the parking lot to take us to the Sky City Training Facility.”

“The Sky City Training Facility?” Amber croaked with excitement.

“How does he know that?” Jinx said, looking bemused.

Amber looked smug. “That’s his power. Zack can predict things a few minutes before they happen. And Zoe reads minds.”

Jinx looked at Amber and blinked at the twins. “Lame.” He headed down the hallway toward the rear entrance, his crew in tow.

True to what Zack had said, a school bus was indeed waiting for them, parked at the curb with the door open and the motor running.

“Field trip!” Nikki cried excitedly, clapping her hands and jumping up and down like a game show contestant. The rest of the kids piled in at a more sedate rate, many muttering less enthusiastic things under their breath.

They were the only ones on the bus.

Serena stopped short at the back of the vehicle and Amber slammed into her, nearly driving her to the floor with her sheer power. “Watch it, headcase,” she said irritably as she took a seat next to Harrison.

Oh, that girl! Serena thought irritably as she stared longingly at the boy who had popped her kissing cherry.

Harrison shrugged apologetically at her as if to say What can you do?

One of these days Amber would meet her match, and then she’d be sorry! Serena was even thinking about being that match, but before she could say or do anything to forward that aim, her attention snapped back around to the bus driver. She recognized him. It was Phillip, from her family’s house!

She waved to him, but he didn’t acknowledge her. Instead, he focused on the road ahead of him as he closed the door of the school bus and let off the brake with a hiss of steam. She stared until he turned his head—somewhat mechanically—and offered her a blank nod. He must be another one of those clockwork creatures, she thought. She searched his mind for some recognition, but he had the brain of a true automaton, programmed for only one purpose. He was definitely not the Phillip from the house, though he was a Phillip…or whatever those clockwork creatures were called.

It didn’t make her feel much better about the trip, but, she figured, if Phillip was behind this, he only meant well, or that was the impression she had gotten from him. Maybe he was taking her to see her family in Witch World. Maybe some of them were alive, somewhere. It was a long shot, she knew, but she couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t help hoping.

She started down the narrow aisle, looking for a seat. The Supers and Geeks had divided the bus in half, Supers on one side, Geeks on the other. On the Geek side, Nikki was sitting with her brother. That left Jinx alone in his seat. Serena thought about taking the seat behind him, but she knew that was childish—and cowardly. She had no reason to hide from Jinx! So she plopped herself down into the seat beside him instead and smiled.

He looked out the window as the bus pulled out of the school parking lot.

“Your hair looks nice,” she told him. “I like the cut.”

Jinx dug out his cell phone and checked it for messages.

“Is your dad still giving you a hard time?” she asked, remembering how Jinx’s dad just wouldn’t leave him alone sometimes, calling him on his cell to taunt him whenever the mood struck him, which was typical of the devil, she supposed.

Jinx ignored her.

“Look,” Serena said, “I don’t want us to be mad at each other anymore. Can we just…I don’t know…call a truce? Agree to disagree on things?”

Jinx put his phone down in his lap and said in a soft voice, “James.” Since the Supers were currently trying to throw cheese puffs at Nikki and Isaac, and both were ducking while the Supers booed them and called them cowards, she didn’t think anyone had heard him.

“James,” Serena said. “What does that mean?”

“My name.” He looked over at her with his stormy amber eyes. “My real name is James. Jinx is just something they called me when I started going to kindergarten because I was so clumsy back then. But my real name is James. I wanted you to know.”

Serena smiled when she realized he was struggling with apologizing. “That’s a nice name. I like that.” He waited, and she finally realized what he was waiting for. “Oh…mine’s still Serena. It’s always been that. I’ve never had a nickname.”

Jinx—James—smiled a little in return. “You look like a Serena.”

“Do you know what a Serena looks like?”

He shrugged and blushed, then looked away and busied himself with his phone. “I guess she looks like you.” Then he frowned. “So are you seeing Harrison again? Did he ask for another date?”

So that’s what this was all about. Serena bit her lip and told the truth. “I don’t know.”

“I don’t like him.”

“Of course you don’t,” she said. “He’s a Super. But maybe you would, if all of you stopped hating all of them all the time.”